On Tuesday night in Winnipeg, the Canes failed to win for the fifth time this year.

The game carried forward arguably the one negative from the overtime loss to the Rangers last Thursday, which was the inability to generate much of anything offensively. Unfortunately, it did not carry forward the outstanding play in net by Anton Khudobin that more or less stole a point or the pretty sound -- if not fancy -- effort to make simple, smart plays pushing the puck forward and generally not giving much of a starting point for the opponent's offense. I think in the end, it was the Hurricanes' inability to successfully move the puck that was biggest deciding factor. It both created chances for Winnipeg and kept the 'Canes from generating much themselves. At the point where you had that, it was going to Khudobin thievery to get points in the standings, and he just was not as good, at least scoreboard-wise, as he was last Thursday.

First a few positives:

--Riley Nash. He continues to be one of Carolina's best players night in and night out. He notched a point, but the bigger thing was his all-around game. He won more than his share of 50/50 pucks in all three zones, was >50% in the faceoff circle and was just generally noticeable all night in terms of being around the puck and winning it his fair share or more.

--Chris Terry. This was not his best game this season, but as far as downs go, this is exactly what you want from Chris Terry and what he must do to stick in the NHL. On a lesser night offensively, he was not a liability defensively nor did he do anything to stand out badly. And when given the chance to play power play, it was his crisp pass through the box that sent Winnipeg scrambling and the puck quickly toward the net where Jiri Tlusty banged it home.

--Special teams. The Canes were +1 on special teams. Sadly, they struggled too much at even strength for it to make a difference.

--Brad Malone. He quietly had a solid game. He was one of the better forwards on the penalty kill which was good overall.

The not so good:

--Justin Faulk. He had another rough night. The Andrew Ladd goal to get the Canes off to the wrong start was not a gaffe, but it did see Faulk lose a battle near the crease that ended up in his net. The Byfuglien goal that saw Faulk misplay a bouncing puck to the tune of a breakaway goal against was just rough and was then followed by another mistake that saw Sekera thwart a Faulk-induced 2-on-1 against.

--Jeff Skinner. I actually thought his offensive game came along okay as the game went on despite no points on the score sheet. He was buzzing around the offensive zone especially in the third period, had some decent chances and had the puck on his stick in places where he can score. So that part was okay. But that darn "two-way play" thing reared its ugly head again, and I do not think you can blame that on rust. Trouba got the better of him drawing a retaliation and what was seemingly a frustration penalty both in the offensive zone when the game was still being contested. He also had the fly by on the Jets first goal.

--Alexander Semin. He just was not a difference-maker yet again. He had a couple more times with the puck on his stick between the circles and failed to hit the net again. I fear that the next station for this train could be Eric Staal's return and being reunited with Tlusty and Eric Staal, but that is still three games off at least.

--Anton Khudobin. He was not horrible, but he was nowhere close to great either. It was as much about timing as quality. He gave up the juicy rebound real early for a quick goal against. While a great save would have been nice, I do not think you can fault him for the second goal which came on a deflection. And again, stopping a flying Dustin Byfuglien on a breakaway is no easy task, but with the Canes playing closer to even hockey after the slow start despite very little offense, you would hope he could hold the fort. Again, not an abysmal effort, but definitely not an advantage versus his counterpart which is 1 you would hope to be in the Canes favor going into the game.

--Elias Lindholm. The lineup options are limited by injury, but I think it is time to unshackle Rask and Lindholm. Thus far they have been a perfectly fine fourth line but really not much more. You could count the grade A offensive chances generated by the duo through five games on one hand. I actually think that is okay for Rask. He is filling a slot and not killing the team defensively which right now is an okay contribution. But tonight you could see where Lindholm got away from his usual sound hockey just a bit which could be a sign that he is pressing. Since Semin is not doing much anyway, maybe it is time to shuffle just a little and see if Lindholm can find a spark with the duo of Nash and Tlusty who have generally been pretty good.

When you net it out, down a couple top players in the Staals and light on forward depth, the Canes really need a few top players to be at their best and drive the offense. That is not happening yet, and aside from Riley Nash, the team has been generating very little 5v5 off the rush. The result is just not enough chances. Jeff Skinner has the ability to change that dynamic for a line or even just create enough individually to help. Eric Staal also has the potential to boost 1 line and add a trickle down effect for the others. But the Canes have at least 2 games before any help from EStaal and need to find a way to break into the win column before the hole gets too big.

Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63

Go Canes!

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